Carlton: Weekend of upsets throws BCS, Big 12 bowl picture for a loop

1/19

AP photos

UPDATED BIG 12, SEC BOWL PROJECTIONS: A wild weekend of college football has thrown a wrench into a bowl picture that finally seemed to be taking shape last week. With a handful of teams now in the hunt for a national title berth, teams across the country are still jockeying for position among the litany of other bowl games that come first. With just a few games to go, SportsDay's Chuck Carlton and Kate Hairopoulos teamed up to project the bowl destinations for Big 12 and SEC teams, as well as all of the BCS bowl games. Here's how they see the field shaking out:

Weekend losses by BCS No. 1 Kansas State and No. 2 Oregon put the Irish atop the Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls, as well as the new BCS standings.

In the process, the chaos opened a Pandora’s box of quirky scenarios for both the BCS and the Big 12. Conference officials were already taking a proactive look Sunday at scenarios to break possible three-way or four-way ties. Yes, it could come to that.

And it’s possible to envision another All-Southeastern Conference title game if Notre Dame stumbles against Southern California.

For now, though, South Bend is again the center of the college football universe.

Coach Brian Kelly had been mocked for voting his team No. 1 in the coaches poll last week. On Sunday, Notre Dame got 56 of 59 votes in the poll. The Irish also were No. 1 in the AP for the first time since Nov. 14, 1993, or 317 polls, as the Chicago Tribune noted.

Kelly watched the Kansas State and Oregon losses with about 15 friends and family in his home theater room, but the rise to No. 1 wasn’t cause for celebration.

“It’s like being selected for the playoffs,” Kelly said on a conference call. “Now you know you’re in if you take care of business, and you’ve got to win each week.”

The first order of business is beating wounded Southern Cal, which will be without quarterback Matt Barkley because of a shoulder injury. A win Saturday in Los Angeles would guarantee Notre Dame a spot in the BCS title game. Kelly liked what he saw and heard from his team Sunday.

“They all to a man know that it doesn’t mean much if you’re No. 1 for just three or four days,” Kelly said. “So they understand the importance of the USC game.”

In the Big 12, the ripple effects from Kansas State’s loss were hard to ignore.

BCS No. 6 Kansas State still has the edge on Oklahoma, the only other one-loss team in the Big 12, because of a head-to-head win. After being humbled, 52-24, by Baylor, Wildcats coach Bill Snyder said his players “still have the opportunity to do some tremendous things.”

But the loss conjured memories of the 1998 Big 12 title game, when Texas A&M and Sirr Parker derailed another undefeated K-State team.

Things could get complicated.

If dominoes fall the right way, Kansas State, Texas and Oklahoma could finish in a three-way tie. Or Kansas State, Texas and Oklahoma State. Or a four-way tie with all of those teams.

At stake would be the Big 12’s automatic bid for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Suddenly, games like Texas hosting TCU on Thanksgiving or Saturday’s annual Bedlam game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have additional meaning.

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